Abstract:

Guatemala experienced a nationwide corruption scandal in March of 2015 where the Vice-President and President were implicated. Nationwide, citizens organized under the banner #RenunciaYa (#ResignNow) asking for the President and Vice-President’s resignation. This paper examines the social mobilizations through traditional social movement literature finding #RenunciaYa engaged in key mechanisms to get people to join their movement such as attempting to change political opportunity structures, engaging in issue framing, and alliance building. It shows how #RenunciaYa attempted to bring people together against corruption, succeeded in framing positive messages, and created an opportunity to build alliances across sectors.